Quick answer
Set the opening date, decide what moves, and give each workstream one owner. Then work backward through site readiness, furniture, IT, records, vendors, employee packing, labeling, move-day control, and day-one testing. Keep one live issue log and leave enough time after the physical move to fix missing, damaged, or misrouted items.
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Make these six decisions first
- Name the first day the new office must support normal work.
- Choose what will move, stay, be replaced, go to storage, or leave the organization.
- Appoint one move lead and one decision maker for urgent changes.
- Confirm when both buildings, loading areas, and freight elevators are available.
- Set the acceptable outage for phones, internet, shared systems, and critical teams.
- Define completion: working seats, tested technology, accounted-for assets, cleared origin areas, and resolved exceptions.
Decide what will actually move
Walk both sites before requesting a moving quote. At the old office, count furniture, packed contents, technology, records, appliances, artwork, plants, specialty equipment, and anything attached to the building. At the new office, match each moving item to a room, workstation, storage location, or named recipient. If the destination is blank, the item is not ready for a label. GSA's federal relocation category includes planning and reorganization as well as moving furniture and equipment, which is a useful reminder to define the full project before pricing transport. [1]
Give every asset group one clear disposition. Open table
| Disposition | Record before the move | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Move | Origin, destination, quantity, label, handling note, and setup requirement | Department or asset owner |
| Replace | New-item delivery date, old-item exit date, and overlap plan | Procurement and project lead |
| Store | Storage address, term, access rules, inventory ID, and retrieval owner | Facilities or records owner |
| Sell, donate, or recycle | Accepted items, receiver, pickup terms, fallback, and required receipt | Asset-disposition owner |
| Stay | Reason, final location, handover responsibility, and clear label | Origin-site owner |
Treat IT equipment and storage media as a separate release. The IT owner should decide what can travel, who maintains custody, what needs a backup, and whether any device leaving service needs sanitization. NIST SP 800-88 Revision 2 frames sanitization around the sensitivity of the information and the controls chosen by the organization; a moving crew should not make that call at the loading dock. [2]
Build the timeline backward from day one
Project duration follows its dependencies. A small furnished suite may need weeks; a multi-floor move with construction, new furniture, and network changes may need months. Start with the longest constraint rather than a generic countdown. The table below is a planning sequence, not a promise of duration.
Office move timeline — set actual dates from your project constraints. Open table
| Stage | Finish before advancing | Typical gate |
|---|---|---|
| Define | Opening target, budget owner, headcount, move scope, lease milestones, and decision rights | Leadership approves the brief |
| Design and procure | Measured plans, seat plan, furniture decisions, technology design, vendor scopes, and long-lead orders | Approved drawing and purchase releases |
| Prepare | Construction, utilities, access, receiving, furniture installation, network, signage, and employee instructions | New-site readiness review |
| Freeze | Final roster, destination list, labels, move waves, contact sheet, outage window, and exception process | Controlled move list issued |
| Execute | Packing, protection, transport, placement, IT cutover, testing, and issue logging | Move lead releases each wave |
| Stabilize | Day-one support, missing-item search, corrections, asset reconciliation, origin closeout, and lessons learned | Business and project owners accept completion |
Protect the business, not only the truck schedule. Ready.gov recommends planning communications, IT recovery, and continuity together. For a planned move, turn that principle into a cutover plan: list critical services, the last safe shutdown time, the first required restore time, the test owner, and a fallback if the new site is not ready. [3]
Give every workstream one owner
A move stalls when several people can comment but nobody can release the next step. Name one accountable owner for each workstream. Specialists can advise and vendors can execute, but the owner closes decisions and keeps the master plan current.
| Workstream | Owner must control | Proof it is ready |
|---|---|---|
| Move management | Master schedule, issue log, vendors, approvals, and change control | Current plan and contact sheet |
| People and communication | Roster, seating notices, packing instructions, access, accommodations, and day-one help | Audience-specific messages sent |
| Furniture and space | Plans, inventory, labels, reuse, installation, removal, and punch items | Room-by-room placement list |
| IT and security | Devices, data, network, phones, access control, custody, backup, and tests | Signed cutover and test results |
| Buildings | Loading, elevators, work windows, protection, insurance, credentials, and walkthroughs | Written approval from each property |
| Departments | Special equipment, records, critical tasks, named exceptions, and local packing | Department readiness sign-off |
Send employees only what they need
- Their new location and first reporting date
- What to pack, what to leave, and what cannot go in a moving crate
- Label format and packing deadline
- Laptop, phone, badge, key, and personal-item instructions
- Expected service interruption and approved work alternative
- Where to report a missing item or day-one problem
Make both offices ready
Ask each property manager for the current move rules. One California public-building policy, for example, addresses reservations, mover identification, surface protection, egress, and insurance approval. It is a useful prompt, but only the rules for your two buildings settle your project. Book constrained resources before publishing the move date. [4]
Origin-site check
- Loading area, freight elevator, carrying route, parking, security, and work window are confirmed.
- Keep, move, dispose, and hold labels can be read without opening boxes.
- Cabinets, drawers, appliances, and personal items have an emptying rule.
- Powered, attached, heavy, confidential, or hazardous items have the right release owner.
- Photos capture the condition of work areas and common routes before work starts.
Destination-site check
- Construction, cleaning, life-safety work, utilities, access control, and furniture installation have cleared the move areas.
- Room names, seat numbers, floor plans, door signs, and move labels agree.
- Network, power, phones, printers, meeting rooms, and critical equipment have named test owners.
- Receiving and staging space will not block occupied areas or required routes.
- The day-one help point, spare equipment, supplies, and issue-routing process are ready.
Keep exit routes clear while packing, staging, and unpacking. OSHA requires exit routes to remain free and unobstructed. The site safety owner should translate that requirement, the building plan, and the crew's work method into controls for the actual move. [5]
Run move day from one control sheet
-
Open both sites
Confirm access, protection, elevators, loading, lighting, restrooms, staging areas, emergency contacts, and the first released rooms.
-
Release one wave
Use the controlled inventory and labels. Hold anything with a missing destination, damaged label, uncertain connection, or unapproved scope change.
-
Track exceptions at once
Record the item, location, photograph, issue, temporary action, decision owner, due time, and effect on later waves.
-
Check placement by zone
Compare delivered furniture, boxes, and equipment with the destination list before the crew leaves that zone.
-
Test critical services
IT and business owners run the agreed tests. A device sitting on the correct desk is not the same as a working service.
-
Close the shift
Inspect routes and work areas, secure keys and badges, reconcile missing items, preserve the issue log, and publish the next-day plan.
If the move crosses state lines or otherwise requires federal motor-carrier authority, check the carrier's current status and scope through the appropriate FMCSA records. The SAFER Company Snapshot is a free, current view of identification, operating information, and available safety data; it is one due-diligence step, not a substitute for contracts, insurance review, or state requirements. [6]
Test the new office before everyone arrives
Use a small advance team to test the experience from the front door to a working seat. Try badges, elevators, Wi-Fi, wired connections, phones, printing, room booking, video meetings, shared equipment, restrooms, wayfinding, deliveries, and help requests. Test the tasks people actually perform, not a green status light on a dashboard.
Close the move when these records agree
- Seat roster and final furniture plan
- Moved, stored, replaced, and disposed asset counts
- IT cutover results and unresolved service issues
- Damage, loss, correction, and claims log
- Origin and destination walkthrough notes
- Vendor completion records, invoices, and approved changes
- Named owners and deadlines for every remaining issue
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should an office move be planned?
Start when the opening date, lease obligations, design, technology, procurement, building access, and business-continuity decisions can still influence one another. Count backward from the longest dependency. A simple move and a multi-floor relocation should not share the same template duration.
Who should lead an office relocation?
Choose one accountable move lead with access to the project decision maker. Facilities often coordinates the work, while IT, HR, security, procurement, finance, department leaders, property managers, and vendors own defined parts of the plan.
What should employees pack themselves?
Give employees a short written rule based on the mover's scope, records policy, technology plan, and insurance terms. State what goes in crates, what travels with the employee, what stays connected, and what is prohibited.
Should an office move happen over a weekend?
Only if the business, buildings, vendors, and cutover plan support it. Weekend work can reduce disruption, but it can also add access limits, labor premiums, compressed testing, and fewer people available to resolve surprises.
What is the difference between an office move and decommissioning?
The move gets people, assets, and services working at the destination. Decommissioning returns the origin space under the lease and handover requirements. They share inventory and dates, but they need separate scopes, owners, acceptance tests, and budgets.
Sources, limits, and update policy
This checklist organizes a U.S. office move. It does not set a building rule, mover scope, carrier requirement, technology procedure, accessibility decision, insurance term, or site safety plan. Use the current contracts, property instructions, approved drawings, and responsible specialists for the project.
- U.S. General Services Administration: Multiple Award Schedule: Office Relocation and Reconfiguration (SIN 541614OR)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology: NIST SP 800-88 Revision 2: Guidelines for Media Sanitization
- Ready.gov: Emergency Plans for Business
- Judicial Council of California: Building Move Policy
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration: 29 CFR 1910.37: Maintenance, Safeguards, and Operational Features for Exit Routes
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: About the SAFER Company Snapshot